NMR interchain paramagnetic relaxation enhancement (PRE) techniques are a very powerful
approach for detecting transient interchain interactions between intrinsically disordered
proteins. These experiments, requiring a mixed sample containing a 1:1 ratio of isotope-labeled
15N protein and natural abundance 14N protein with a paramagnetic spin label, provide
data that is limited to interchain interactions only. Application of these experiments
to weakly associated transient species such as those that are present in the very
early stages of self-assembly processes will aid our understanding of protein aggregation
or fibril -formation processes.
